Guarding Crockery Against ’Quakes

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 4, 6 October 1948, Page 3

Guarding Crockery Against ’Quakes

When lightning struck a 65ft bluegum tree at South .Makirikiri recently, crockery was swept from a shelf in a farmhouse . into the centre of the room and broken. New Zealand housewives have had some experience of earthquakes also breaking crockery ahd throwing preserves from the shelves ahd yet so few have taken subsequent precautions. Nowadays it is no unusual sight to see expanding wire fixed to the shelves in chemists’ shops, and high up on the shelves of grocers’ shops. Many housewives admittedly see that their choicest pieces are kept at the back of the shelves and low down in the cupboards. But are these two precautions sufficient? A few shillings would provide sufficient material to guard all the valuable crockery, and the preserves which have not only taken up much valuable time to prepare but also used up the full sugar ration. I know of one v/oman who places all her precious crystal and china in chairs and pads them with cushions before she leaves home for a holiday. It is a good idea, but expanding wire attached a few inches above the shelves seems a better one.